How You Remind Me
by Empress Xandra
Summary: SLASH! Sideswipe's ex shows up at the base. How will Blurr react? BxS no like, no read. Semi AU.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own anything

AN: Not my first fan fic or first SLASH fic but still bare with me.

WARNING: SLASH!

Summary: SLASH! Sideswipe's ex shows up and wants him back. But what does Blurr have to say about that?

Chapter 1

"Ah," Sideswipe cried out in his recharge. Sitting up quickly Sideswipe took in his surroundings. Nothing out of the ordinary. He was in his quarters at the base, with the door still locked and everything still in place. So why did he wake up?

"Nightmares again?" Hot Shot asked from his bunk below Sideswipe's.

"Yeah," Sideswipe nodded, still breathing hard.

"You need to see Red about those. It can't be normal to wake up screaming four nights a week," Hot Shot commented with a yawn.

Sideswipe didn't answer. He wasn't about to go to Red Alert about his nightmares. Red Alert would ask all kinds of questions that Sideswipe couldn't answer. Wouldn't answer.

"You think you can go back to sleep now?" Hot Shot asked.

"Yeah," Sideswipe said, laying back down. He would be able to sleep as long as there was someone he trusted near by to make him feel safe. And there were plenty of 'Bots in the base that fit the description.

* * *

"Oww," Sideswipe complained picking himself up off the ground.

"I told you to concentrate. If you actually pay attention you might not end up on the ground so much," Hot Shot sighed.

"Sorry," Sideswipe apologized automatically. Hot Shot ignored it. Sideswipe always apologized too quickly, even when there was no need to apologize. It was a habit Hot Shot, without success, had tried to break him of.

"The kid getting his aft kicked again?" Blurr asked, standing in the doorway of the training room.

Hot Shot glared. He didn't like the way Blurr treated Sideswipe. Blurr had no reason to treat Sideswipe like he did. Other than his mild case of hero worship when he first arrived, Sideswipe treated Blurr the same way he did everyone else.

"What do you want Blurr?" Hot Shot asked, tone making it obvious that the sooner Blurr left the happier he'd be.

"Optimus wants everyone in the command center. We got a new arrival," Blurr said leaving. Hot Shot glared at his back. One of these days he was going to have to call Blurr out like the guy in that romance book Alexis had lent him. 'Pistols at dawn on the knoll,' he thought humorlessly.

* * *

Hot Shot grumbled as he and Sideswipe walked down the corridor to the Command Center.

"You shouldn't say those things about a fellow Autobot," Sideswipe commented at the end of Hot Shot's diatribe.

"When Blurr stops acting like such slagging jerk I'll stop calling him one," Hot Shot grumbled.

Sideswipe sighed. Ever since the incident with Wheeljack Hot Shot had started to act a little protective of him. In the months following, that protective attitude had become an _over_protective attitude. Hence Hot Shot's deepening animosity toward Blurr. Hot Shot didn't seem to get that Sideswipe didn't want or need protection from Blurr. But he wasn't about to tell him that. Sideswipe could just imagine how well that would end. Probably with Hot Shot calling Blurr out on the field of honor.

'Frag, we need to borrow some of Rad's books like _Lord of the Rings_. Alexis' romance books are messing up our processors,' Sideswipe thought to himself.

* * *

Optimus stood in the Command Room watching his men arrive. So far everyone had arrived except for Hot Shot and Sideswipe. Sending Blurr to get them had probably not been the best idea. After all, if Hot Shot kept misreading Blurr's actions toward Sideswipe there would probably be fists thrown. But then again there would be fist thrown if Hot Shot ever found out about Blurr and Sideswipe's _real_ relationship.

Sideswipe and Blurr both expressed a wish that Hot Shot be kept completely in the dark about it until they got around to telling him. Which would probably sometime after they got back to Cybertron and Blurr was on the other side of the planet in a safe-house Hot Shot had no knowledge of. At least that's what Optimus would do in their place.

How Hot Shot hadn't realized that Blurr and Sideswipe were involed was beyond him. Everyone on the base was aware it, with the exception of Carlos and Alexis. Rad had walked in on the two while they were in a somewhat compromising situation. They thought he had no idea what they were actually doing since the boy hadn't commented on it and human were not very accepting of same gender relationships. As it turn out Rad knew exactly what they were doing, he just didn't care. Apparently he had an older brother who lived out of state that was 'gay' as the humans called it. But since Carlos and Alexis didn't know about his brother and he wasn't sure what their stance on the issue was, Rad had advised Optimus to avoid telling them.

The door to the Command center slid open admitting both Hot Shot and Sideswipe. Now that everyone was here Optimus decided to get on with introducing their new arrival.

"Men this is-

"Spindle!" Sideswipe gasped.

Everyone turn to Sideswipe then the new arrival----Spindle.

"Hiya, 'Swipes," Spindle said with a slow smirk.

Optimus inwardly groaned. The inflection on Sideswipe's nickname gave him the feeling that this guy knew Sideswipe far too well for Blurr's liking. Sure enough Blurr was already leveling a hard glare at the newcomer.

Then things went from bad to worse. Sideswipe hit the floor in a dead faint.

AN: No Hot Shot does not like Sideswipe anyway more than a brother.

Xandra: Damnit. I made Rad's hot older brother gay.

Brigg: Why did you give him a brother at all?

Xandra: His brother's going to play a big roll in a future fan fic.

Brigg: Oh… you think he's hot?


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Seriously, I don't even own the title. A Nickleback song inspired this fic so that's the title I gave it.

Chapter 2

"Sideswipe!" Hot Shot and Blurr called out, rushing forward towards the young 'Bot. When they ran into each other they both glared at the other for a second before turning their attention back to Sideswipe.

"Move," Red Alert ordered pushing the two concerned mechs out of his way so he could attend to Sideswipe. After a quick diagnostic he turned to Smokescreen. "Can you carry him to the infirmary?"

Smokescreen nodded before picking up the much smaller 'Bot and heading for the infirmary. Unfortunately as soon as Sideswipe was out of the room Blurr and Hot Shot's attention could be redirected at another source.

"Who the hell are you?!" Hot Shot growled.

"His name is Spindle, he's here on recommendation from council," Optimus stepped in, trying to prevent the imminent fight that he sensed was about to break out between his new recruit and the Sideswipe's 'brother' and boyfriend.

"Sideswipe was fine before he saw you," Hot Shot growled.

"Well he probably wasn't expecting to see me here. Besides we didn't part on the best of terms," Spindle said in his defense…Only to dig himself a deeper hole.

"You _parted_?" Blurr asked, imaginary eyebrow twitching.

"Yeah. He said he didn't want to be tied down with one mech for the rest of his life and hit the road" Spindle said casually.

Optimus inwardly winced before looking at the kids, who had been unusually quiet till now. They—well Carlos and Alexis—would definitely be confused by the obvious allusion to there having been a relationship between Spindle and Sideswipe in the past.

Sure enough, Carlos and Alexis' faces showed confusion while Rad's was impassive, though Optimus was certain he saw a certain emotion just below the surface. That definitely couldn't be good. Sideswipe had been known to confide in Rad because Rad seemed to understand him. That made Optimus a little uneasy since he knew Rad's childhood hadn't been the best. A month after they met the kids, he had noticed that while Carlos and Alexis would talk about their mom and dad Rad would talk about a Mr. and Mrs. Bailey. After further questioning Rad told him that he lived with a foster family because of his own parents inability to raise him. Nothing more had been said on the subject.

"Really? He doesn't seem to—" Blurr started to say.

"Why doesn't someone show the new guy to his room," Jetfire cut Blurr off before he accidentally admitted his relationship in front of Hot Shot. Blurr glared at Jetfire but complied with the order.

"Come on," he growled.

* * *

"So I fainted?" Sideswipe asked.

"Yes," Red Alert stated in his normal monotone. "Care to tell me why?"

Sideswipe sighed. Red Alert wouldn't let him go unless he gave an answer. "I just wasn't expecting see Spindle… here… now," Sideswipe said, almost losing it. The other Autobots thought he was overly emotional, with no control what so ever. Boy were they wrong. He'd been holding the majority of his emotions in an iron grip since he was a very young mech. Since he met Spindle in fact. Spindle could read emotions like a data pad and took shameless advantage that ability. Sideswipe hadn't liked having everything he felt twisted around and used to control him.

* * *

"Optimus?"

Optimus looked down to find Alexis and Carlos staring up at him questioningly. This was the question he had been dreading. The kids were going to ask about the transformers mating habits. Once, when he'd voiced his concerns about this imminent conversation to Rad, the boy had laughingly compared him to a parent faced with giving his child 'The Talk'. Whatever that was.

"Umm… yes?" He asked.

"What—" The kids were cut off by some scuffling that appeared to be coming from the direction of the barracks.

Blurr wouldn't have gotten into a fight with the new recruit this early, even with the hint of a past relationship involving Sideswipe. Would he? Actually Optimus knew the answer to that.

* * *

"You okay?" Rad asked after arriving at the infirmary.

"Yeah. Just a little shaken," Sideswipe said with a half heated grin.

"Soooo… that was him?" Rad asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah," Sideswipe answered, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. He didn't want to breakdown in front of Rad even though he knew Rad would understand. Rad's past was so similar to his it was scary. They'd both been hurt badly by someone that was suppose to love them and they were both rescued from the situation by their older brothers. The only difference was the man that hurt Rad was in prison, so Rad's peace of mind was at the mercy of the parole board. Sideswipe's peace of mind had been dependent on how much distance he could put between himself and Spindle.

"You don't think he'll try anything do you?" Rad asked.

Sideswipe shook his head. "Doubtful. Besides, if he did Blurr and Hot Shot would probably kill him," Sideswipe tried to laugh. He didn't succeed.

"When do you get out?" Rad asked.

"I don't know. Probably whenever Red Alert's sure I don't have some deadly glitch that will slowly eat it's way through my system until I drown in my own fluids," Sideswipe sighed.

"Lovely imaging. I think you missed your calling," Red Alert said interrupting their private conversation. "Sideswipe's free to go whenever he feels like it."

"Thanks," Sideswipe said, getting off the recharge table. Red Alert nodded before going to replace some of his lab tools in their proper spots.

"So, you up for some climbing?" Rad asked.

"I guess. Why?"

"You need to get out and get over Spindle being here," Rad explained.

"What if I get distracted and fall off the cliff?" Sideswipe asked.

"The cliff I have in mind is only a hundred feet high. If you fall off that and get hurt you have no business climbing at all," Rad said rolling his eyes. Sideswipe had fallen off a five hundred foot cliff complete with sharp pointy rock at the bottom and been almost perfectly fine.

"Augh," a groan and sound of a fight reached them from the barracks.

"That sounded like Blurr," said Sideswipe.

"Shite," Rad said simply.

AN: When I say their older brothers rescued them, I mean the hot gay guy and Sunstreaker who may or may not make an appearance.

Brigg: Shite?

Xandra: It's what I say so I don't get in trouble with my parents. Just take the 'e' off and you'll get it.

Ceidre: That's a stupid word.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Warning: hints at domestic (Sideswipe) and child (Rad) abuse.

Chapter 3

"Blurr stop that!" Optimus yelled finally managing to pull Blurr off of Spindle. Optimus had expected to find Blurr and Spindle engaging in 'fisticuffs' as that book he'd borrowed from Alexis had called a reasonably tame fistfight. What he hadn't expected was to see Blurr pinning Spindle up against the wall while repeatedly punching him in the face.

"Move Prime!" Blurr hissed.

Optimus felt a little bit of shock that Blurr would to him speak that way but he got over it quickly. "Blurr," the edge in his voice conveyed the order that Blurr wisely decided to heed.

"Whoa," said Sideswipe, nearly running into Optimus's back as he came flying around the corner.

Blurr nearly went at Spindle again when he saw the way the other mech looked at Sideswipe. The slagger was looking at him like he was a piece of meat. Optimus noticed the look too.

"Spindle, you quarters are the last door on the left. Go wait there," Optimus ordered. Right now Sideswipe, Spindle, and Blurr needed to be separated so he could deal with the current situation without further bloodshed.

He then turned back to Blurr and Sideswipe. "What was that about?"

Blurr just mumbled, "Nothing." Obviously he wasn't going to say anything in front of Sideswipe.

"Sideswipe, Hot Shot's probably worried. Go see him," Optimus ordered. Sideswipe looked like he was going to protest but Rad came around the corner. Giving the boy a significant look, Sideswipe took off for the Rec room with Rad following close behind.

After he was sure the two were out of ear shot Optimus turned back to Blurr. "Well?"

Blurr looked away.

"Blurr. What did he say that got under your skin that easily?" Optimus asked.

"He said a few things about Sideswipe."

"What kind of things?" Optimus asked. Nobody talked bad about his troops, especially the younger ones like Hot Shot and Sideswipe. Blurr mumbled something still refusing to look at him.

"Blurr," Optimus said sternly.

"He basically accused Sideswipe of being a prostitute," Blurr finally admitted.

'We have prostitutes? Curse you, sheltered childhood' Optimus mentally cursed. 'Wait, did he say-'

"What!"

"He said Sideswipe was a prostitute when they met," Blurr ground out wanting to either get off the subject or go off and kill Spindle.

* * *

In the Rec Room Sideswipe and Rad huddled around Alexis' PDA —which Rad 'borrowed' from her and hadn't gotten around to returning— listening to Blurr and Optimus through Lazerbeak.

"There are prostitutes on Cybertron?" Rad asked.

"Yeah," Sideswipe said somewhat sadly.

"Were you one?"

"No… but I hung around a lot of them," Sideswipe sighed. "We were all in the same boat as far as things went. Refugees were always low on supplies so a lot of them did what ever they had to to get them," Sideswipe explained. He didn't say that the only reason he didn't have to resort to prostitution was because he was, in the words of his brother, 'a damngood thief.'

* * *

Optimus weighed his options. One, he could allow Blurr to kill Spindle, secondly, he could discipline Spindle himself, or finally and most logically, investigate to make sure Blurr hadn't misunderstood or find out if Spindle's charge was true.

As much as he wanted to trust Sideswipe, Optimus knew option three was his choice. He couldn't discipline Spindle for saying something that was true, although he wouldn't hold it against Sideswipe for doing what was necessary to survive. While Optimus led a sheltered life before joining the Autobot military, even he couldn't be oblivious to the fact that the war had pushed many refugees and neutrals to less than respectable means such as thieving and the like.

Optimus sighed. The only way he could really 'investigate' was ask Sideswipe. The 'Bot was usually honest but would he really reveal something like that?

* * *

"Where the slag did he get off to?" Hot Shot asked out loud. He'd been looking for Sideswipe since Optimus had run off to see if Spindle and Blurr were trying to kill each other and hadn't found him yet. Hot Shot had to stamp down the urge to go back and yell at Red Alert again. For the love of Primus, Sideswipe faints and then Red Alert just lets him walk out of the infirmary like it's nothing? In his weakened state Sideswipe could be kidnapped by Decepticons or assaulted by Blurr or something. Really, was he the only one who thought of these things? It was a wonder that Sideswipe was still alive and relatively well with as many chances the other Autobots took with his health.

"So rock climbing it is?" Hot Shot stopped walking when he heard Rad's voice coming from around the corner.

"Yeah. I need to clear my head before I go talk to Blurr," Sideswipe sighed just as he came around the corner—and stopped short upon seeing Hot Shot.

"Why do you need to talk to Blurr?" Hot Shot asked suspiciously.

"Umm… Those rocks aren't going to climb themselves!" Sideswipe exclaimed before turning tail and running.

"Huh?" Hot Shot asked, confused. "What was that about?"

"Nothing," Rad said running after Sideswipe.

* * *

Spindle sat on his bunk staring lazily at the wall with a cocky smirk. It had taken him so long to find Sideswipe, mostly because of that slagging, son of a toaster, Sunstreaker. Not only had he interfered with his and Sideswipe's relationship, he also helped Sideswipe vanish into the Autobot military. Of course Sunstreaker had been paid back for that in full. A few of Spindle's friends had paid Sunstreaker a visit right after Spindle left for Earth. Yesterday he'd gotten a message from those friends telling him that Sunstreaker was duly taken care of.

Spindle frowned. He hadn't expected Sideswipe to have jumped into a new relationship just like that, which if he read Blurr right, Sideswipe had. It was another obstacle. So was Hot Shot. Those two were the most likely to interfere with him getting Sideswipe back. Stupid idiots. They wouldn't be in the way for long. He'd get rid of them just like he got rid of the others who dared to stand in between him and what was his. The fools who thought to take Sideswipe for themselves.

Come the next battle there would be a few more casualties than usual.

AN: R&R

Brigg: That took you long enough.

Xandra: Well I'm sorry but in the past few weeks I've had an emotional break down in the middle of class, had to play midwife to a cat, been yelled at by my dumbass uncle for taking MY bike without asking my cousin first, and been dealing with unbelievably horrible grades.

Brigg: I thought you destroyed public education.

Xandra: Stupid timeloop makes me have to go to school.

Brigg: Timeloop? I could use that to go back in time and stop you from becoming Empress!

Xandra: You tried that already. We ended up married with three kids.

Brigg: Where are the kids anyway?


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 4

A small ship was seen dodging flac as it tried to escape the planet's gravitational pull. Normally this wouldn't be a problem but the ship seemed to be having engine trouble… to put it lightly. In the mad escape attempt one of the two engines had been blown completely off. Luckily for the pilot the engine had gotten a good distance from the ship before it blew up.

"Arrr," the pilot growled as by some miracle he managed to dodge another round of flac. At this rate he wouldn't even get out of the solar system much less all the way to the planet the Minicons were on.

"Slaggit!" he yelled doing a barrel roll that should have been impossible in a vessel he was piloting, but it was effective. He sped up away from the planet heading toward the small dot in the distance that was known as the Sun.

The pilot collapsed back against his chair. He was safe for now as long as the ship held together. He set the coordinates and turned on the autopilot, and then lay back in his chair. It was a three-day journey to his destination and he'd need the rest for the battle that awaited him there.

His last thoughts before he dozed off were 'You better watch your tailpipe you bastard. Nobody messes with me and mine and gets away with it.'

* * *

Sideswipe was really hating the room arrangement right now. He had to walk right by Spindle's barrack to get to Blurr's. Sideswipe was certain that either Primus or the guy who assigned rooms hated him.

'Slag! Jetfire and Red Alert make the room arrangements! Frag, it's not my fault I walked in on them in the infirmary! They're the ones liable to blind someone, carrying on like that in a public place,' Sideswipe thought as he tried to tiptoe by Spindle's room.

"Hello 'Swipes," Spindle says from behind Sideswipe.

'Goddamnit! What did I do to deserve this?' Sideswipe thought to himself.

While he was busy trying to figure this out Spindle took the opportunity to wrap an arm around Sideswipe's waist.

"Hey!" Sideswipe yelled as he started to struggle to get away. Unfortunately Spindle was larger and stronger. With one simple movement, Spindle spun Sideswipe around and in his room with the door closing after them.

* * *

Blurr really needed to talk to Sideswipe. Whoever Spindle was, he knew Sideswipe way too well for Blurr's liking.

Walking along the hallway Blurr almost didn't hear the whimper coming from Spindle's room. Almost.

Blurr stopped and stared at the door. That whimper sounded a lot like Sideswipe. Coming from Spindle's room. Spindle's ROOM!

Realization dawn slowly as Blurr stared at the door. Sideswipe was in Spindle's ROOM. Why the SLAG was Sideswipe in _there_? Sideswipe wouldn't be doing anything like—

No he wouldn't. Not willingly. Blurr stood straighter with a new resolve. Pressing the door open button he strode into the room… to find Spindle pinning Sideswipe up against a wall while doing his best to kiss him. Of course with the way Sideswipe was struggling Spindle was having a hard time with it.

Seeing enough Blurr strode forward calmly, grabbed Spindle and threw him into the wall. Then he grabbed Sideswipe and strode out.

* * *

Setting a still startled Sideswipe down on his bunk, Blurr quickly looked him over for signs of injuries of any nature. Satisfied that Sideswipe wasn't hurt—and that Spindle's painful death could wait a little longer—Blurr sat down next him on the bunk.

"Who's Spindle? And don't give the he just the new recruit thing cause it's pretty obvious he's more than that."

Sideswipe looked away for a moment then turned back toward Blurr with a sigh. "He's my ex. We were together for a while before I joined the Autobots. He got a little controlling, tried to keep me from hanging out with my old friends and my brother. After that things got worse and I broke it off," Sideswipe explained giving the barest explanation, leaving out how when he'd been ten minutes late getting back from visiting his brother Spindle had gone off the deep end and beat Sideswipe so badly he couldn't move for a week. That had been the final straw. As soon as he was strong enough to leave his recharge berth he'd called his brother for help. When Spindle had been out, Sunstreaker came over and helped Sideswipe gather what he needed and leave. The next day Sunny took him to a recruiting station and had them sign him up for a tour of duty.

Sideswipe had to smile at that memory. When he signed the contract promising so many years of service to the Autobots his only though was that it would get him far away from Spindle. He hadn't even dreamed that he'd meet someone new to help him heal. But he did. That planet he got sent to was where he met Blurr. It had taken some time but they eventually got together. Then the Minicon war began again and Blurr got called to fight on Earth. He'd told Sideswipe to go back to Cybertron and wait for him there. He was so mad when Sideswipe showed up on Earth he gave him the silent treatment for over a week before even acknowledging their relationship. Sideswipe was pretty sure him almost being kill by Wheeljack and the amount of time he spent with Hot Shot—plus the hugging—had helped Blurr get over his anger real quick.

* * *

Rad sat watching the sunset over the desert. He was worried about Sideswipe. With Spindle around Sideswipe would not only be in danger but also it would cause the return of old fears.

Rad didn't know what he'd do if something like this happened to him. Hearing his father's name was enough to give Rad a panic attack. Seeing him again would probably kill him… if his father didn't do it first. The man hated his youngest son for some reason Rad had never been able to figure out. Shad, Rad's older brother—their mother chose the rhyming names for reasons unknown, though from what Rad remembered she had been high all the time—hadn't ever been able to figure it out either. Or he had but just refused to tell his baby brother. Anyway, because of his father's hatred Rad was been abused from the time he was two till he was nine. Shad, who turned eighteen that year, decided to pick up his little brother and run. Social Services and the cops caught up to them in Phoenix and separated them. Shad was arrested for a while since their father claimed Rad had been kidnapped. Luckily Shad convinced Rad to tell the police about the abuse. That got his father ten years on it's own. Apparently he'd also been dealing drugs on the side so he got another ten years added on to that.

The issue of Rad's caretaker came up again after sentencing. Since an unemployed eighteen year old wasn't considered a proper guardian for a young boy with a history of abuse, Rad was put into foster care. Luckily the Baileys were specially trained to deal with children who had life long abuse issues so Rad had become a self-confident young man instead of a withdrawn youth.

A few rocks sliding above him brought Rad back to the present and made look up. The last thing he saw before everything went dark was a large metal hand reaching down and grabbing him.

AN: R&R

Xandra: Whew!

Brigg: You're really getting into the dramatic cliffhangers, aren't you?

Xandra: Yup.

Brigg: So, who grabbed him?

Xandra: ummm…

Brigg: You don't know!?


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: Damn heat. My Dad won't turn on the air conditioner until it hits 90. so I suffer through 88 degree temps with no relief.

Chapter 5

"Augh," Sideswipe woke to something tapping on his head. After the night he'd had he needed more than just a few hours of recharge. After he left Blurr's room and got back to his own room, the shock of what Spindle had tried wore off. Then he ended breaking down. Luckily Hot Shot had night guard duty so he wasn't there.

"Mmm… stop that," Sideswipe grunted brushing whatever it was away from his head. To his surprise he heard what sounded like it was …flapping.

Sideswipe allowed a slight amount of energy to go to his optics so he could get a vague outline of his annoying guest. Seeing an outline of what appeared to be a bird he sent more power. As his vision cleared he realized Lazerbeak was hovering over his head trying to get his attention.

"What?" he asked, figuring Rad had sent Lazerbeak to get him for whatever reason. He was slightly surprised that he didn't hear Rad's voice answering him, just Lazerbeak's silent stare. "Rad?" No answer.

Just then the buzzer informing everyone to report to the central command room sounded. Looking back at Lazerbeak, Sideswipe was hit with a sudden feeling of dread.

* * *

"Why'd ya call a meeting Optimus?" Jetfire asked after everyone had arrived.

"We have a problem," Optimus said simply.

"Obviously. You wouldn't have called us here if we didn't," Scavenger stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What's the problem?" Hot Shot asked.

"Rad didn't go home last night," Carlos said worriedly.

"Huh?"

"But Rad left the base last night," Hot Shot said.

"Yes, we all saw him leave. But the problem is he never made it home," Optimus said.

"Then where did he go?" Hoist asked.

"And more importantly, who did he go with and did he go willingly," Optimus said. Everyone startled. It hadn't occurred to them that Rad might have been kidnapped, though now that they thought about it this wouldn't be the first time someone kidnapped one of the kids.

"What reason would anyone have to kidnap Rad?" Jetfire asked.

"Depends on who did the kidnapping," Scavenger put in. "If it was Megatron he'd probably be looking for blackmail. But if it was somebody else then their reasoning would be completely different."

"Who else would want to kidnap Rad?" Hot Shot asked. Everyone looked at one another to see if they had a clue.

"His dad," Carlos said.

"Mr. Bailey?" Optimus asked.

"No. His real dad," Sideswipe answered. Everyone looked at Sideswipe. "Rad's real dad's in jail though, so he shouldn't have been able to get anywhere near him."

"How do you know?" Scavenger asked.

"Rad told me," Sideswipe said simply.

"Red Alert, go hack into the prison files for—What's his name?" Optimus asked.

"Jason White," Sideswipe answered.

"Check the status of Jason White," Optimus ordered Red Alert. Red Alert nodded and hurried off.

Optimus turned back to Carlos. "We'll find him," he assured the human. Carlos just nodded, looking far from reassured.

* * *

Rad was vaguely aware of a buzzing in his head. Being semi-conscious he managed to mostly ignore it while trying to slip back into the darkness of complete unconsciousness. He instinctively knew that regaining full consciousness would bring something he didn't want to face right now.

Metal scarping on metal brought Rad to a state of full wakefulness… and an intense pain in his head.

'What happened?' he thought to himself through the pain. He remembered watching the sunset outside the base after Carlos had headed home but that was it.

Urging his vision to clear Rad looked up at the room he was in. Not surprisingly it was small, empty, and metal. Rad remembered a transformer grabbing him and then taking off. What happened next?

That sound he heard after that, like something was cutting the air. A helicopter! That was the transformers vehicle mode! But it hadn't been Cyclonus, Rad would definitely recognize that nut job after the last time he tried to kidnap him. Plus he would have heard Cyclonus' insane giggling from a few miles away.

So who grabbed him? Was there some new Decepticon out there looking to take down the Autobots by taking the kids hostage again? But then why weren't Carlos and Alexis here? The bad guys never spilt prisoners up, it was easier to watch them when they were all in the same place.

A metal panel near the floor slid aside and a tray with what appeared to be food was slid inside by a big metal hand. Well, whoever had him was interested in keeping him alive at least. But to be honest Rad wasn't sure that that was a good thing.

AN: R&R

Arsenic: Ain't love grand?

The Enforcer: No. I caught my husband with another guy.

Arsenic: Yeah sorry about that.

The Enforcer: I still can't believe you made out with my husband. I thought you had better taste than that.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 6

"What's taking so long?" Carlos groaned.

"We can't divert everybody to search for Rad, Carlos. If the Decepticons attack we have to have at least half the team here ready to respond," Optimus explained for the nineteenth time in the last twenty-four hours. Once the reports came back that confirmed the Jason White was still in his cozy little isolated cell in the Nevada State Prison, Optimus had assembled a team to scourer the area around the base for any sign of Rad, just incase the boy had met with an accident on his way home.

The team was delayed an hour by an indignant Highwire who was upset that they were trying to leave him behind. Apparently he felt guilty that Rad had been alone that night since he had had to stay for the Minicon's weekly meeting. In the end Highwire got to go, but only if he stayed with Sideswipe at all times.

Carlos wasn't very happy with the progress that was being made. His best friend— maybe more—had been missing for over a day and they still had no idea what had happened to him.

"But Optimus, they should have found something by now," Carlos complained.

"There's a lot of ground to cover, Carlos. And they have to do so very carefully so they don't miss any clues that might tell us what happened," Optimus explained. He started to say something more but stopped when he noticed Carlos' shoulders were shaking.

Carlos quickly left the room to try and hide his tears from the Autobot leader.

* * *

"You do realize this whole thing is a waste of time, right?" Spindle asked.

"It is not a waste of time, so shut up!" Hot Shot snapped. He was sick and tired of Spindle talking this way. Since the beginning of the search Spindle had been down right pessimistic. Actually, no, he hadn't. Saying he was pessimistic would imply that he was actually depressed by the fact that with each passing hour their chances of finding the human boy alive were cut in half. The only thing that Spindle seemed to be depressed about was the fact that Sideswipe had got paired up with Smokescreen instead of him.

Hot Shot's annoyance deepened into anger. He'd noticed Spindle trailing after Sideswipe since the mech arrived two days ago. He'd also noticed that Sideswipe was nothing less than scared to death of the older mech. And that set off what Alexis called his 'Mommy Mode'.

"The kid probably fell off a cliff or something. Stupid humans. They're so poorly designed that they wouldn't survive that kind of fall," Spindle stated examining a near-by ledge.

Hot Shot's already thin control over his temper snapped. "HE IS NOT DEAD!" Hot Shot roared throwing a fist at the back of Spindle's head. Spindle turned suddenly catching Hot Shot's fist with his hand.

Hot Shot stared dumbly at Spindle for a moment not processing that the 'Bot had managed to stop his punch. His stare turned to one of confusion when Spindle started to chuckle.

"You're right. The brat isn't dead yet. He wouldn't be much good to me dead," Spindle laughed before grabbing Hot Shot's wrist with his free hand. Then he flipped the 'Bot over his head and hurled him down the cliff.

Spindle smiled as he heard the telltale crunch a few seconds later. "One down, one to go."

* * *

"Beep, beep!" Highwire called out, his voice echoing off the walls of the valley he was standing in. Once again he was disappointed not to hear his friend's answering call. Hanging his head dejectedly the Minicon let his shoulders droop.

"Don't worry Highwire. He's got to be around here somewhere," Sideswipe said kneeling down next to the Minicon.

"Beep," the Minicon said mournfully.

"He's tougher than that Highwire. He'll be alright," Sideswipe comforted.

"Yeah. Rad's survived months of hanging around us," Smokescreen pointed out. "It'll take more than a walk home in the dark to kill him."

"Beep." _You really think so?_

"Of course" Smokescreen smiled though he wasn't so certain. If Prime's new theory about Rad getting lost in the dark were true, the boy would have sent Lazerbeak with a message telling them where he was. The footage Lazerbeak brought back consisted only of a sunset then blackness. Nothing else that would give them any clue as to their human friend's fate.

"Smokescreen," Smokescreen turns his head toward Sideswipe. "Yeah?"

Sideswipe slowly raised his hand to point at something on the ground about twenty feet from them. "Is that what I think it is?"

Smokescreen walked over to it and discover a chunk of pink plastic and metal that used to be Alexis' PDA.

"What the hell happened to this thing? Damn, that girl needs to be more careful with her stuff," Smokescreen shook his head at the carelessness it would have taken to demolish this rare example of intelligent human technology.

"She didn't have it last. Rad did," Sideswipe told him, feeling fear sink in.

Smokescreen was quite for a minute, surveying the cliffs that surrounded them. He then turned on his comm. link. "Prime, you might want to get out here."

* * *

Blurr stood with his arm around Sideswipe they watched Optimus examine the PDA. He wanted to say something to comfort the younger 'Bot but he wasn't sure if there was anything he could say that wouldn't just be hollow placation. His fears were confirmed when he saw Optimus sigh, looking a whole slagging lot older than he usually did.

"Optimus?" Sideswipe asked, not liking the Autobot leader's reaction to their first and only clue regarding Rad's disappearance.

"Blurr, take Sideswipe and Highwire back to the base," Optimus ordered. Blurr nodded starting to lead Sideswipe away.

"What's going on?" Sideswipe asked.

"I'll explain later," Blurr whispered, hoping Sideswipe and Highwire wouldn't put up to much a fuss about having to leave. Optimus obviously didn't want them to hear his next order, meaning it could only be one thing. He was downgrading the search to a recovery mission. All he expected to find in this valley was a body.

* * *

Rad's hand shook as he lifted the spoon to his mouth. The food was disgusting but it at least stopped the burning hunger in his stomach. It also didn't do much in the way of providing energy. He guessed they really didn't want to risk him getting up the strength to escape. Or more likely, they didn't want him to get the strength up to hurt himself. Somehow he doubted he was still on earth. This place moved wrong. There was no way he was still on solid ground and it didn't feel like he was on a ship.

The floor shook suddenly, causing Rad to drop the bowl splattering the goopy grainy stuff on the floor. But he didn't have time to worry about his lost meal.

The entire wall slid aside to reveal a strangely familiar transformer.

AN: R&R

Brigg: You really need to work on this stuff more often.

Xandra: It's summer! This is the only time I have to myself.

Brigg: You don't spend that much time with me anymore either.

Xandra: Whatever.

Ceidre: I'll spend time with you Randy.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 7

Spindle practically swaggered down the hall toward his room. He'd just got finished telling Red Alert how Hot Shot had gotten upset about their lack of results and accused him of slowing down the search before storming off in a rage. Poor fool shouldn't let his emotions get the better of him like that. Get that worked up and you probably wouldn't even see the ledge in front of you until you fell into it.

One of the doors along the corridor—Blurr's he guessed—opened just in time for Sideswipe to come barreling out… and smack dab into Spindle.

"So enthusiastic to be back in my arms, huh?" Spindle chuckled wrapping his arms Sideswipe's waist to keep him from falling backwards.

To say Spindle was surprised when Sideswipe's response was to punch him in the face would be an understatement. As he landed unceremoniously on skidplate he could do little more than watch Sideswipe continue on to his room.

* * *

Sideswipe collapsed on his recharge berth after the door slid closed. 'Slag, I didn't just do that,' he thought to himself.

He couldn't believe he just punched Spindle in the face. He'd never raised a hand to Spindle like that, it only brought a worse response. If he'd been thinking straight—but he wasn't thinking straight. And there was a reason for that.

The search for Rad was being called off. Optimus thought Rad was dead because of that stupid PDA. Just cause it was so damaged didn't mean that the boy carrying it was too. Rad knew these cliffs better than anyone. There was absolutely no chance he would wander off path in the dark. Somebody would have had to—Sideswipe sat up straight.

"Spindle!"

"Yes?"

Sideswipe's head snapped toward the door. Spindle had snuck in while he was lost in thought. "You," Sideswipe hissed.

Spindle glared at him. "Yes me. The mech you just bowled over in the hall. The love of your life," Spindle growled.

"We both know all that love slag was bullshit, Spindle," Sideswipe growled.

"Somebody finally grew a spine," Spindle commented, obviously annoyed that Sideswipe wasn't cowering in fear of him yet. "You might want to watch how you talk to me 'Swipes. You never know what could be on the line," Spindle smirked.

"You have him. That's why we can't find him in the valley and none of the Decepticon alarms went off," Sideswipe rationalized.

"You always were the smart one," Spindle comment dryly. "Unlike your dearly departed brother."

Sideswipe's optics widened. "Su—Sunny?"

"Yup. Your brother met with an unfortunate accident about a week ago," Spindle said enjoying the crushed look that over took Sideswipe's face. He decided to add to it. "And another certain yellow idiot took a small tumble little over an hour ago."

Sideswipe froze. " Hot… Hot Shot?"

"Yes. I wonder what kind of end that other 'friend' of yours will meet. Maybe some friendly fire in the next battle? Or a rockslide? Heh, Maybe he'll just vanish without a trace," Spindle chuckled, watching pain and fear dance in Sideswipe's eyes. He loved that look. It made Sideswipe look even younger and more vulnerable. More innocent. Innocence was so rare on Cybertron. Sideswipe was a rare find for a mech like Spindle. Too rare to allow to escape again.

"Hmmm…" Spindle reached down and lifted Sideswipe's chin so there optics met. "Or we could leave before anyone else gets hurt," he whispered softly.

* * *

Optimus groaned in frustration. When he sent Sideswipe and Highwire away he had expected to find Rad's body almost immediately. But so far this valley had not turned out the body of his young friend.

He'd been prepared as he was going to get to find what, judging from the condition of the PDA, was going to be a gory sight. But with every passing moment Optimus found himself becoming less prepared than he thought. The humans, Rad especially, always seemed so full of life. Now, with every second that passed without finding Rad's body, Optimus' imagination came up with a new image of what what the boy would look like drained of that light that Optimus noticed at their first real meeting. If he could just find Rad, he could lay those images to rest and only be haunted by one, instead of the thousands that plagued him now.

Slaggit, if his mind conjured up another picture of Rad staring at him with lifeless blue eyes, Optimus knew he was going to lose it.

"Frag," Optimus hissed banging is fist into the rock formation behind him. A boulder shifted slightly revealing a small puddle of red…blood Optimus realized. He slowly moved forward to peer around the rock to glimpse the source of the blood.

"Optimus," Red Alert's voice came over the comm. link. Optimus jerked back taking a few deep breaths.

"Yes, Red Alert," Optimus answered, closing his optics and leaning his head back against the canyon wall.

"Hot Shot's missing sir. He disappeared after arguing with Spindle. He's also not answering his comm. link," Red Alert said.

Optimus banged his head against the rock a few times. "Have Sideswipe and Blurr look for him."

"That's not possible, sir. Sideswipe is also missing."

"What?" Optimus sat up straight. "How? I sent him back to the base with Blurr."

"Blurr says that he has reason to believe Spindle might have done something to him. Blurr claims to have witnessed Spindle assaulting Sideswipe the day of his arrival. Also Spindle went missing around the same time as Sideswipe."

"When did everything start going to hell around here?" Optimus asked, wondering at his luck that his whole unit was falling is such a short amount of time.

"When Spindle joined us, sir," Red Alert answered.

"That was a rhetorical question."

"I know but I felt it needed an answer sir."

Optimus sighed. "I'm heading back to the base now. I'll assess the situation fully once I arrive."

"Umm... Sir?"

"Yes, Red."

"May I asked… Did you find anything?" Red Alert asked, slightly unsure.

Optimus looked at the mangled carcass of what once must have been a coyote. "Nothing, Red."

"Good. Red Alert out." Red Alert closed the communication channel. Optimus looked at the coyote again before striding away, anxious to leave this place behind, hoping against hope that if he had to return it would be after either finding all his missing men alive or at least getting answers to their disappearances.

AN: R&R

Brigg: That is the closest I've seen you get to writing angst.

Xandra: What the hell as everything else in this story been?

Brigg: Compared to the stuff that goes through your mind daily this is pretty cheerful.

Xandra: Shut up.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 8

"Uhhh," Hot Shot groaned as he put too much pressure on his left leg. When he was falling he'd managed to turn enough that his leg mostly absorbed the impact. He tried his best not to look at it since his leg now resembled a crushed coke can. He was leaning heavily against the wall of the canyon supporting himself with his good leg.

"Slagging rat bastard," Hot Shot cursed. "Had to throw me into the one valley in this damn desert you can't get a decent signal in."

Hot Shot dragged himself along at a slow crawl, berating himself every step of the way. How could he have not have seen that Spindle was an evil bastard. Sideswipe might be a little shy but he didn't run in terror from anything. Actually Sideswipe could use a little bit of cowardice, he wouldn't get so beat up in battle if he were a little more reserved.

Damnit, if he hadn't let his guard down then Sideswipe wouldn't be alone with Spindle. And Rad was somewhere unknown, alive Spindle assured him, but not necessarily unharmed.

Why did that slagger take Rad though? Spindle's main focus Sideswipe, that was obvious. So what part did Rad play in this plan? Sideswipe and Rad had some weird connection, an understanding Optimus had called it. But how would Spindle know about that? He'd only been on Earth a few hours when Rad disappeared.

Hot Shot's pondering was cut off by his comm. link crackling to life.

* * *

"Optimus! We've finally managed to get through to Hot Shot!" Red Alert called.

"What happened to him?" Optimus asked

"He's hurt. He says Spindle threw him over a cliff," Red Alert answered.

"What!?" Optimus yelled.

* * *

Sideswipe sat staring at his hands. He was going back to the way things were before he left Spindle. He was going to be Spindle's little pet so that his friends were safe. Primus his life sucked.

Sunny was gone. So was Hot Shot. Rad was had been missing for nearly forty-eight hours and if Spindle had been telling the truth about him being still alive he wasn't very likely to be in very good shape. There was also no guarantee that Spindle wouldn't just kill the boy and be done with it.

"Sit up straight. We're about to dock," Spindle ordered. Out of habit Sideswipe obeyed. Looking out the front window of the skiff Sideswipe saw the ship that would be taking him back to Cybertron. It was big, black, and ominous. Exactly the kind of ship someone like Spindle would use.

* * *

"He wasn't really acting any different than he has since he arrived, just being a stuck up jerk," Hot Shot explained, as he sat on the repair table in the infirmary. He then grimaced as Red Alert hit a raw nerve with his laser scalpel while trying to salvage what was left of the crushed leg.

"Did he say anything before he pushed you that might give us any idea of what he planned for Sideswipe?" Optimus asked.

"No. But he did mention Rad," Hot Shot said.

"What about Rad?" Carlos asked. Carlos had some how managed to get in despite Optimus' order that all the kids be kept out until Hot Shot's leg was fixed.

"Spindle said something about Rad not being any use to him dead," Hot Shot told them.

"So you think he's the one who kidnapped Rad?"

"It would make sense. But Spindle couldn't have been working alone. He was in the base when Rad disappeared," Optimus said. That gave them another problem. How many men did Spindle have working for him? At least one, that was for sure, but how many could Spindle convince to follow him and abduct a boy from right outside an Autobot base. Especially the base the Autobot commander was working out of.

"Rad's alive then, right?" Carlos asked in a small voice.

Optimus looked down at the boy afraid to answer and give him false hope. "It… It's a possibility," He allowed.

"This information does us very little good if we don't know how to find where Spindle's taken them," Red Alert commented, not looking up from his work on Hot Shot's leg.

"Blurr's been running scans for any strange energy signatures within a certain distance of the planet. Autobot or Decepticon," Optimus told them. "He'll check in with me as soon as he—"

"Optimus?" Jetfire's voice came over the comm. link.

"Yes, Jetfire?"

"Umm… Was Blurr suppose to take off through the warp gate a few minutes ago?"

Optimus felt his left optic twitch. "No Jetfire, he was not."

"Oh… Oops."

* * *

Blurr looked around the corner before hurrying down the corridor. Coming to this place alone probably wasn't the best idea, but Prime and the others would definitely frown upon what he had planned for Spindle. Plus energy signals on this ship were dropping like flies and that could mean that Sideswipe was in danger.

He rounded another corner… only to trip over the mangled remains of some unknown Autobot. After falling flat on his face he let out a moan of embarrassment, thankful no one saw his display of clumsiness.

"Blurr?"

Or not.

Blurr looked up to see Rad standing in front of him, the boy was a little worse for the ware, but for the most part unharmed.

"Not exactly who I was hoping for," Blurr sighed.

"Your not exactly who I was hoping for either," Rad said, with a small smile. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"This is Spindle's ship right," Blurr asked…sorta.

"Yeah. At least that's what he told me anyway," Rad said pointing to a yellow mech that Blurr hadn't noticed before.

'How'd I miss that paint job?' Blurr wondered. Then something else hit him. This mech looked like a yellow version of Sideswipe.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, not very politely.

"Sunstreaker," the mech replied.

AN: R&R

Xandra: Decent cliffhanger if I do say so myself.

Ceidre: Your cliffhangers suck.

Brigg: Selene, it might not be a good idea to piss Xandra off.

Ceidre: She's a short, evil bitch. She deserves it.

Xandra: And you're a mediocre skank.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: I sorry this is so late but there's been a death in my family recently and we've all been busy.

WARNINGS: Hints of human slash, which if you have a problem with you can go burn in hell because if you got this far without a problem two kids looking lovingly into each other's eyes shouldn't bother you.

Chapter 9

Spindle stopped dead as he set foot on his ship. Something was wrong. No one was in the hanger waiting for him. Where were his men? He'd left specific orders for someone to be here when he arrived so they could take Sideswipe to his quarters and stand guard while Spindle discussed things with the pilot.

"Where did those idiots get off to?" he growled pulling Sideswipe along behind him as he went in search of somebody he could yell at.

Sideswipe looked dubiously at his surroundings. Something about this whole thing felt familiar. There was a familiar presence near by that was pretty much screaming at him to get his skidplate moving before…

"AHHHHH!" a scream echoed in the depths of the ship.

Spindle froze, recognizing the voice as one of his men. "What the hell?"

Sideswipe let a slow smile spread over his face as realization dawned. "Somebody lied to you Spin," he chuckled.

"What?" Spindle hissed, tightening his grip on Sideswipe's arm. Sideswipe just continued to grin.

"Guess who's here," he laughed.

Spindle glared, wondering if Sideswipe had finally lost it.

Smack! Sideswipe fell back at the force of Spindle's slap. Usually he'd be upset or at least dazed for a moment after Spindle hit him, but this wasn't most days.

That day he'd finally called it quits to his relationship to Spindle he'd purposely waited to call Sunstreaker till he knew Spindle was going to be away for a while, not because he was afraid of Spindle but because he didn't want Sunny to kill him. Some time had passed since then, and Spindle had done very little to endear himself to Sideswipe. The targeting of his friends finally destroyed whatever residual feelings Sideswipe may have had for the mech.

So needless to say he had no problem with allowing Spindle to be maimed and or slaughtered by a ghost from the past.

* * *

"Jetfire, do you have those coordinates yet?" Optimus demanded.

"Just about… one sec…GOT EM'!" Jetfire announced proudly.

"Well type them in this thing goddamnit!" Carlos yelled at him. Optimus and Jetfire stared at him for a second.

"Carlos, I know you're worried about Rad but cussing at us isn't going to help," Optimus said calmingly.

"How about you go check on, Hot Shot," Jetfire suggested.

"Do you really want me to check on him or are you going to take off to go after Spindle as soon as I leave?" Carlos asked suspicious.

"What makes you think we'd do something like that?" Jetfire asked.

Carlos' eyes narrow. "Because it's a convenient way to get rid of me for the few minutes it would take you to activate the warp gate to go after them."

Anime sweat drops appeared on both Optimus and Jetfire's heads. "Have I ever deceived you?" Optimus asked.

"No."

"Have I ever done anything to make myself seem untrustworthy?"

"No."

"Then why don't you trust me and go check on Hot Shot?" Optimus said. Carlos looked between him and Jetfire with suspicion clearly showing in his eye before he relented and left the room presumably to go to the infirmary.

After the door shut behind him, Jetfire turned to Optimus "Should I activate the warp gate now?"

Optimus glared at his second in command " Would you rather wait till he gets back?" the usually somber Autobot asked with much sarcasm.

* * *

Blurr followed the stranger who had introduced himself as Sideswipe's twin brother down the hall. Occasionally one of Spindle's crew would show up out of nowhere and get torn apart by Sunstreaker. How this guy could possibly be related to Sideswipe was beyond Blurr. While Sideswipe was stronger than he let on some times, he was still a rookie and lacking in the fighting department. Sunstreaker was either very seasoned or a natural fighter. The ferocity he used when taking out one of the Mechs that tried to get in his way spoke volumes about Sunstreaker's personality.

'I wonder if he's the evil twin,' Blurr wondered.

"Try to keep up you stupid squishy," Sunstreaker called back, dragging Blurr's attention to Rad who was falling behind.

"Not all of us were gifted with long legs," Rad called back, out of breath.

"Weak organics," Sunstreaker muttered.

"You know I can hear you, right?" Rad asked.

"Whatever. I should have just left you in that cell," Sunstreaker growled.

"Least then I wouldn't have to look at that ugly paint job," Rad said dryly.

"Hey! What's wrong with my paint job?"

"It's yellow."

"What's wrong with yellow?"

"It's bright and cheery."

"No it's not!"

"Yes it is."

"No it's not."

"What are you? A toddler?"

"What's a toddler?" Sunstreaker asked, tilting his head to the side, the expression on his identical to the one Sideswipe wore when he was confused.

Rad stared at Sunstreaker for a minute. " 'Toddler: noun, a young child who is learning to walk'" Rad quoted.

"YOU'RE CALLING ME A BABY!" Sunstreaker yelled.

"You want to yell a little louder, I don't think Megatron heard you at the Moon Base," Rad deadpanned. Sunstreaker sent him one final glare before moving off to chase down the next poor idiot to cross his path.

'Stupid kid' Blurr thought to himself. The boy should know better than to bait a ticked off Mech. It was definitely a way to shorten his life span. He missed Rad's slight grin.

After years of dodging questions on why he was limping or where he got all the bruises from, Rad learned quickly how to get people to focus on things other than his injuries. Whether it was changing the subject or getting someone so riled up they forgot what they were originally talking about.

* * *

"Damnit Carlos," Jetfire complained trying to pull the boy off his leg.

"I knew you guys were going to leave me behind!" Carlos accused.

"Carlos, I know you want to find Rad but hopping on a already warping object is never a good idea. Your molecules could have been scattered throughout the solar system," Optimus admonished. Carlos stared back at him, obviously rethinking ever using the warp gate again.

"Optimus?" Blurr asked turning a corner with a yellow version Sideswipe.

"Blurr, may I ask what the pit you were thinking taking off like that—"

"Screw that! Where the hell is…" Carlos let his question trail off as Rad limped around the corner. He'd been so afraid the past few days that he'd never see his best friend/secret crush again. Now seeing Rad's trademark smile that could light up an entire whatever the hell the were in—from a room to undersea palace—Carlos just let all the stress fade away. It didn't matter anymore to him. All that mattered was that the light in Rad's beautiful blue eyes was still there, shining as brightly as ever.

AN: I know this chapter is crap but like I said there was a death in the family and I just got back from the viewing.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Warning: Slash non-censual kiss

AN: Ok, I'm better now but my stupid cat won't stop clawing my legs.

Chapter 10

Optimus never felt so relieved in his life. His list of missing men was down from four to two—or one if he didn't count Spindle since from the look of things Spindle was a traitor.

"Rad!" Carlos yelled as the blonde boy began to sway almost falling before the strange yellow transformer moved his foot so Rad could lean on it. Carlos hurried to his friend.

"Are you ok, man?" Carlos asked.

"I'll be fine, just need some food," Rad smiled back.

"Didn't they feed you?" Carlos asked, getting angry at whoever it was that starved _his_ Rad for the past two days.

"Yeah but it wasn't exactly loaded with carbs," Rad grimaced at the memory of the food he'd been given to eat. Thankgod he only had to eat it twice.

"You sure you're not hurt?" Carlos asked.

"I'm sure," Rad said with a small smile to his friend. Carlos still didn't look convinced. He started poking Rad randomly in the stomach and chest to see if there were any injuries. At Rad's glare he quickly pulled back.

"Maybe we should take the kids back to the base then come back for Sideswipe," Jetfire suggested… only to be met with three chilling looks from Sunstreaker, Blurr, and Rad… "Or not," he said quickly.

"Sideswipe can't wait. Spindle had no problem kidnapping an innocent human child—" Optimus was cut off.

"Since when am I an innocent?" Rad asked.

"Best not to let them know about the 'Day of a Thousand Jackhammers' incident," Carlos replied.

"That was you two?" Optimus asked incredulous.

"Maybe."

"As fascinating as the exploits of two fleshlings are, I'd prefer we stop wasting time when we could be rescuing my twin from his stupid mech-friend," Sunstreaker complained.

"Ex-mech-friend," Blurr growled.

"And I assume you're his new mech-friend?" Sunstreaker asked.

"Yes—No!" Blurr tried to amend to late.

Sunstreaker glared at him "You haven't combined anything with him have you?"

"No," Blurr said quickly.

"Why not?" Sunstreaker asked suspiciously.

"He's too young," Blurr answered hoping he sounded sincere.

"Good answer," Sunstreaker said. "And he will continue to be too young until you rust up and die."

"SUNNY!" Sideswipe yelled in the distance, breaking the somewhat humorous atmosphere.

* * *

Spindle froze mid swing when he heard Sideswipe scream that word. It couldn't be. His men had reported back to him that Sunstreaker was dead. They wouldn't have dared to lie to him. Sideswipe must have gone off the deep end finally.

Spindle leaned down and grabbed Sideswipe, hauling him up and pushing him against the wall. Insane or not, there was a reason he brought Sideswipe with him and damnit he was frustrated from the past two days of holding back.

"Umph!" Sideswipe cried when Spindle crushed his lips to his. 'Not again,' he thought dejectedly.

"Mmmm," Spindle always enjoyed kissing Sideswipe. Back when they were together Sideswipe had always kissed back with a certain naivety that had always made Spindle want to just lose control. But Sideswipe was very close to his stupid twin back then and that stupid twin could be easily reached if anything happened that Sideswipe hadn't completely agreed to. Which was exactly what happened. He'd taken things to far when he was angry and Sideswipe left a week later. Slag it felt good to have Sideswipe again.

"Arrrrr," the low-pitched growl was emitted from somewhere behind him. Spindle hurriedly broke the kiss and spun around to face… the group of three Autobots, two children, and a very angry looking Sunstreaker.

"Oh frag," Spindle cursed realizing Sideswipe hadn't gone off the deep end yet.

* * *

Crunch! Sunstreaker smirked as he felt Spindle's jaw give in a little. Not fully but enough to mar that slagging smug face that Spindle always wore. That face he wore when he forced Sideswipe into… Slag, he couldn't even think about it.

Slam! Spindle went flying in the direction of the opposite wall courtesy of Blurr's fist.

"Hey! He's mine!" Sunstreaker hissed at Blurr.

"I didn't hear you call dibs," Blurr replied stalking toward Spindle.

"I called dibs back on Cybertron," Sunstreaker hissed.

"I don't care who called dibs! Stand down!" Optimus ordered. Sunstreaker turned his glare on Optimus.

"Did you not just see what that piece of scrap was doing to my brother?" Sunstreaker hissed.

"Yes. And maybe you should be a little more concerned about seeing to your brother than punishing his attacker," Optimus suggested. Sunstreaker at least had the grace to look somewhat ashamed that he hadn't checked on his brother before launching himself at Spindle.

"Blurr. You and Sunstreaker can take Sideswipe and the boys back to the base. Jetfire and I will escort Spindle back," Optimus said leaving no room for argument.

Sunstreaker glared slightly but hurried to his twin's side and helped him to his feet.

"Hey 'Swipes," Sunstreaker said.

"Hey Sunny," Sideswipe greeted.

Sunstreaker looked down at the boys' who were now staring at him "What?"

"Dude… Your yellow," Carlos said.

"SO!"

Carlos just shook his head muttering "too bright"

"Where's this damn base of yours anyway?" Sunstreaker asked.

Blurr sighed. This was the beginning of a miserable acquaintanceship, he could already tell.

AN: Crappy ending I know. R&R One More Chapter and this is done.

Enforcer: What's the 'Day of a Thousand Jackhammers'?

Xandra: Rad and Carlos told the Minicons about pogo sticks and then got them a jackhammer since the pogo stick broke.

Brigg: How does that equal a thousand jackhammers?

Xandra: Those little guys are smart. They built some tricked out jackhammers for themselves once they knew the basic design concept.

Everyone: O.o


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 11

"Well, you're both fine," Red Alert pronounced to the human and 'Bot. "Though you could do with a decent meal, Rad."

"Kind of figured that already," Rad stated as his stomach growled.

"So we're free to go?" Sideswipe asked.

"Rad is for now since it's self apparent why he was kidnapped. Optimus would like to have a word with you though," Red Alert told Sideswipe.

"Guess I should have known that much," Sideswipe sighed.

"Can I go home?" Rad asked hopefully. He missed the Baileys and really didn't want them to worry longer than necessary.

"Not until we have a plausible excuse for your disappearance," Red Alert told him.

"Couldn't I just say I was lost in the desert?"

"And how would you explain your lack of dehydration and sunburn?" Red Alert asked.

"I stayed in a cave during the day and cut into a few cacti?"

"Who would believe you got lost anyway?"

"Somebody would."

"Who?"

"Uhh…"

"Thought so."

* * *

Sideswipe waited outside the door to Optimus' office. He had a basic idea of what Optimus wanted to speak to him about. Stuff like 'How long have you known Spindle?' or 'Were you aware he was capable of this kind of violence?'

Had he known Spindle would hurt Hot Shot or go after Rad? Well, yes he had known Spindle was capable of it. But he didn't think Spindle was stupid enough to do it right under the Autobot commander's nose, even with his connections on the Council.

With any luck he'd just get a reprimand and extra guard duty. Worst-case scenario was he'd get sent back to Cybertron and separated from Blurr. 'Slag this isn't going to be pleasant,' Sideswipe thought as the door opened to admit him.

* * *

Optimus watched the nervous rookie. He wasn't overly enthused about subjecting Sideswipe to an interrogation this soon after a traumatic experience, but due to Spindle's connections with some higher ups the sooner this was dealt with the better.

"Sideswipe, how well did you know Spindle before he came here?" Optimus asked just wanting to get this over with so he could write whatever report would need to be written to keep Council off his back.

"We lived together for awhile, before I left," Sideswipe admitted.

"Did he ever hurt you then?" Optimus asked.

Sideswipe looked up surprised. That wasn't one of the questions he expected. "Yes. That was the main reason for the split."

"Did he threaten or assault you here prior to abducting you?"

"He pulled me into his room once," Sideswipe admitted. Optimus nodded.

"That will be all," Optimus told him before going back to his work.

Sideswipe stood in shock for a moment. No reprimand? No angry rant? No scrubbing the halls with a toothbrush?

Definitely not what he expected.

* * *

"So Spindle's creator is on the High Council. That's why he was willing to kidnap Sideswipe right out of the base. He figured Daddy dearest could swing him a pardon," Smokescreen commented leaning against the giant pool table in the Rec room while Jetfire lined up his next shot.

"Yeah. But with Optimus recommending incarceration I don't think it'll work out that way for Spindle. Plus kidnapping a rookie ain't exactly something to be proud of," Jetfire said nearly scratching on the eight.

"Least Sideswipe should be ok now. Blurr'll look after him if Spindle doesn't get sent to jail. I know I would if I was involved with someone with such a violent ex," Smokescreen said taking his shot.

Neither of them noticed Hot Shot stiffen in the corner before he relaxed again taking a swig of high-grade. With the week he'd had he wasn't up to disemboweling Blurr today.

* * *

Rad glared unhappily at the white and blue-stripped wall in front of him. Red Alert's grand plan was to drop him off at the hospital and have him claim he was in a cave-in.

Yeah, that was genius plan. The Baileys probably wouldn't let Rad go up the mountain ever again.

The door swung open as the doctor entered. "The results of your pregnancy test are positive," he said not looking up.

"Umm… I think you have the wrong room," Rad said. The doctor looked up.

"I don't suppose you are a Miss Korvolous, are you?" the doctor asked strictly business.

"No."

"Bradley White?"

"Yes."

"Ok then, you have no broken bones or internal bleeding. So you free to go."

Rad hurried out of the room.

* * *

'Home sweet home' Rad thought as he walked through the front door of the Bailey's house. Mr. and Mrs. Bailey walked slightly behind him, probably watching for any signs of trauma or a relapse.

Rad felt a pang of guilt. He just had to sit on that stupid ledge contemplating the mysteries of life, all alone, in the dark. He'd just been asking for trouble. He'd learned that way back when he was still living with his dad. Now the Baileys were worried about him.

Nothing could make him feel better at this point.

"How ya doin' little bro?" a deep, laughing voice asked.

Rad looked up to see a young man in his early twenties with blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes sprawled on the couch. He gaped at the man for about sixty seconds. Then…

"SHAD!" He laughed jumping into the man's open arms.

* * *

Meanwhile at the Nevada State Prison alarms were blaring as the guards searched in vain for the prisoner. So caught up in looking for the missing man nobody questioned the blonde man wearing the standard guard uniform driving away in the warden's private car.

Jason White drove casually for an hour until he reached a service station. There he asked directions to a small research town called High Desert

TO BE CONTINUED.

Xandra: Thank god that's over

Brigg: But what happened to Spindle

Xandra: He got sent back to Cybertron to go to prison. He'll either be back later or he could just become somebody's cyber bitch.

Brigg: Alrighty then.

Xandra: Everything else will be revealed in the sequel.


End file.
